Welcome to the very beginning of a brand new phase in e-commerce, where personalization and discovery combine to uniquely fit consumer needs. This is when “Wow I can’t believe what a deal this is!” turns into “This combination Mongolian-fur-hat-and-MP3-player is just what I need for my walk to work in December in Chicago!”

Phase One - the phase Amazon mastered - was Search, the process of helping people find what they’re looking for at the exact moment they want it. Phase two was Push, where Groupon and Gilt led the charge. Push provided people with unbeatable deals on things they probably weren’t looking for, with elements of scarcity, limited time offers, and social baked in.

Phase Three will combine these two elements, leading to highly relevant offers and product discovery at the exact right time. Everyone has their own way to break down the evolution of e-commerce, but for the sake of this piece let’s use these phases and keep it simple.

Discovery and personalization - the generation of marketing opportunities based on an individual’s unique interests, wants, and values - is a wonderful thing. Phase Two businesses knew this. Most deal businesses are based, to some degree, on discovery and personalization. Groupon may know, for example, that a given prospect lives in Chicago, and Gilt knows that that prospect is a guy. Without better business models and technologies, however, the result is superficial discovery that quickly leads to deal fatigue.

Contrast the current state of daily deal affairs with a different scenario: Say you’re a 28-year-old living in Manhattan. You enjoy cooking, fashion and going out with your friends. You don’t own a car and the 10-day weather forecast is trending below 30 degrees. Today you get offers for a scarf from an up-and-coming designer, a Dutch oven, and tickets to your favorite band. Serendipity? Or simply a better understanding of who you are as an individual?

The reason today’s consumers are struggling with daily deal sites is because the filtering mechanisms and technology aren’t quite ready to handle highly targeted offers to individuals. There are too many “deal pushers” at a time when consumers really want simplicity, relevance and accuracy.

There’s another side to the situation as well. Because of the way many e-commerce companies’ business models were set up, moving lots of single SKUs quickly is how they make money. Many other providers of goods and services have great products but lack the inventory and scale needed to market through these channels. They default to Phase One e-commerce, listing theirgoods on Amazon, hoping potential customers will find them. With tens of millions of widgets out there, it’s a daunting task for a consumer.

For online commerce to succeed, then, discovery theory must evolve. There are three aspects to the challenge: the discovery process itself; curation, or the sourcing of high-quality, appropriate product solutions; and personalization, which involves accurately matching the right product or service with the right individual, at the right time.

Discovery, when properly executed, is about helping consumers find stuff they didn’t even know existed. It begins by encouraging customers to offer information about their interests using a variety of techniques that deal in the individual’s self-interest, from games and metaphors to direct feedback. Moreover, discovery is an ongoing process, one that is continually refined over time to generate relevance at deeper levels regardless of how the person’s interests change.

Curation is about offering a filtered selection of high-quality products and services to consumers. So many e-commerce sites push an overwhelming number of unrelated, mediocre products with the goal of creating as many sale opportunities as possible. Unfortunately, this business model is incongruent with the consumer’s need for a quick, relevant and reliable experience. Creating a conscious effort to select a handful of products that are unique, interesting and high-quality eliminates excessive product sifting on the customer’s end. The result is a highly targeted, meaningful shopping experience.

Personalization ensures that the right offer reaches the right person at the time that person needs it most. This has a lot to do with the technology and business model of the seller. All the big players are pushing hard in this direction, whether it’s Amazon’s recommendations, Groupon’s interest mapping, or Gilt’s verticals. All these businesses are getting better at it, but a new business model is needed to truly address the problem.

To achieve this ultimate dialogue between merchant andcustomer, e-commerce companies must perfect the troika of discovery, curation and personalization, then apply all three consistently in the retail environment. Some non-commerce sites, e.g., Pinterest, Tumblr, and Stumble Upon, understand this dynamic. Pinterest allows users to self-curate by “pinning” products, photos, news items and other online content onto a personal interest boards that serves as a discovery tool between users. Pinterest is taking off, demonstrating the massive potential waiting for venues that help people set themselves apart and discover new things based on who they are.

It doesn’t take an expert to realize that personalized discovery has a long way to go. But certainly as this evolution begins, truly exciting new retail models will emerge in mobile, local and online commerce. Finally, deal fatigue will be a thing of the past. And what is “serendipity” to the consumer, will be exceptional business success to the merchant.